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Shyvana
Build Guide by GreenFrogs

This build has been archived and is for historical display only.

PLEASE NOTE: This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.

Introduction

Hey

So you wanna play Shyvana huh? Checked her out on youtube, or maybe she was on sale; whatever, you picked her up, don’t really know what she does, and you’re looking for some guidelines. Well you’ve come to the right place, but more importantly, you’ve picked the right champ. Shyvana is a powerful force, and built and played right, she can devastate enemies. Either 1v1 or in a team fight, it’s always a little frightening to see a dragon fly at you, especially one that can give you a good ***-whooping.

Big big thanks to JhoiJhoi for her awesome guide to guides and the dividers. Thanks :)

Please read the entire guide before you give me a thumbs up or down, and please leave criticism as to how I could make this guide better. Thank you.

...And here's some music. Awesome song.

Who is the The Half-Dragon?

Shyvana is a tanky DPS jungler who excels in many aspects of the game. Strong from early to late, she is a fearsome enemy and a reliable ally. A good Shyvana can devastate teams with her ultimate, Dragon's Descent, and a combination of all her abilities. She's scary, strong, and very fun to play. But if you don't know too much about her, it's always a good idea to check out her past...

~Lore~

Half-Dragons are the forbidden scions of humans and shape-shifting dragons. There have been few in the world, as they are typically hunted down by their draconian relatives. The scarce and reclusive dragons left on Runeterra find it disgusting to mix their blood with the frivolous and violent lesser races. However, there are those who become fascinated with humans, such as Shyvana's father. It was to Prince Jarvan IV's surprise when his hunt led him to a legendary young half-dragon. She wept over the dead, mutilated corpse of her father, murdered for her existence. Something in Jarvan was moved by Shyvana's plight. Together they plotted revenge against the mighty dragon responsible. The assault cost the Demacian Prince many men, and nearly his life, but ultimately Shyvana and he prevailed.
The experience changed the both of them. Shyvana lost her place in the world, left alone to be hunted by those dragons who discovered her existence. Because of what he'd seen, Jarvan lost his taste for the hunt and wished to return home as protector of his people. Jarvan IV, as Crown Prince of Demacia, offered Shyvana a place as a noble warrior in the ranks of the elite guard. Out of gratitude and necessity, she accepted. Since their return to Demacia, Shyvana has proven herself to be a fierce and powerful soldier. She blends her fiery draconian blood with her adopted principles of justice. She revels in the power she now feels in the human world and there are few who do not quake before her in combat. However, by and large there remains only one place for glorious battle. When Jarvan joined the League of Legends, it wasn't long before Shyvana answered the call as well.

"I have the blood of dragons in my veins. I am fear to all who oppose me."
Shyvana

So now you know who the Half-Dragon is? No? Well, here's one more thing you might want to check out if you still don't know much.

/league-of-legends/champion/lulu-95
gank more, counterjungle, and just be a pain in the *** for the entire enemy team.

Pros/Cons

Perilous Pros

+Very strong jungler+Great champ all game long+Tanky DPS+Amazing team fighter+Powerful Ultimate+She's a Dragon

SPACE

SPACE

Careless Cons

-No CC-Pre 6 no gap closer-Not as strong as a ganker as other junglers-She has to kill her father a lot (poor dragon)-Nothing Else

Abilities

Fury of the Dragonborn: Shyvana's melee attacks enhance her abilities.

Twin Bite - Every autoattack reduces the cooldown of this skill by .5 seconds. Burnout - Every autoattack extends the duration of this ability by 1 second to a maximum of 6 seconds. Flame Breath - Anyone hit by this receives 15% of Flame Breath damage everytime shyvana autoattacks them. Dragon's Descent - Attacks generate 2 Fury and Shyvana passively gains Fury over time while in human form. Her Twin Bite will count as two attacks, therefore generating 4 fury.

Twin Bite: Shyvana strikes twice on her next attack. The second attack will deal 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100 % of her attack damage as physical damage. Both attacks trigger on-hit effects and Fury of the Dragonborn effects. Because they generate on-hit effects, you have more chances to proc wriggles lantern or Madred's Bloodrazor.

Dragon Form: Twin Bite cleaves all units in front of Shyvana. Each unit hit will be dealt on-hit effects and grant Fury twice. Essentially, if you hit all 5 champions with this ability with a Madred's Bloodrazor, you would proc each with it and deal quite a significant amount of damage to a team.

Burnout: During the next 3 seconds, Shyvana will deal 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 (+0.2 per bonus attack damage) magic damage each second to nearby enemies and her movement speed will be greatly increased by 30 / 35 / 40 / 40 / 50 %. Shyvana's movement speed bonus itself will be reduced multiplicatively by 15% for every second that passes.

Dragon Form: Shyvana now scorches the earth where she walks, leaving a trail of fire for 5 seconds that will continually deal magic damage to enemies that pass over it.

Flame Breath: Shyvana unleashes a fireball forward in a line that will hit the first enemy it hits, dealing 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to it and reducing their armor by 15% for 4 seconds. Not the strongest ability, but her only ranged one.

Dragon Form: Flame Breath engulfs all units in a cone in front of Shyvana.

Active: Shyvana transforms into a dragon and dashes to a target location. Enemies along her path take 200 / 300 / 400 (+70% of ability power) magic damage and are pushed toward her target location. Shyvanna must have a full fury bar to use this spell.

While in Dragon Form, Shyvana will lose 6 fury every second. Once her Fury bar is empty, she will return to her normal state.

I will go over how and when to use her ultimate in a later section.

Runes/Masteries

Runes

Greater Mark of Attack Speed9

Greater Seal of Armor9

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist9

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage3

Runes are obviously very important, but if you are pre-20, you should not spend any ip on tier 1 and 2 runes. You can still jungle, you just need a much stronger leash. Now let's go into detail.

I take the basic AD mastery page for extra damage in and out the jungle. Not only does it help her early game, but it helps her damage from early to late game. From the armor penetration to the extra damage dealt because of Executioner , it's essential to grab these. Of course you can make her more tanky if need be. It's all situational.

Summoner Spells

While this does seem necessary on Shyvana, it isn't essential. Since you have no CC, exhaust is your only way to slow your enemy while ganking, but if your allies have a lot of cc, then it isn't really necessary. For instance if your mid was an Annie, then her Pyromania would be efficient enough to secure the kill. It is still one of best summoner spells to use on Shyvana though, so it's fine, even if you do have a lot of CC.

SPACE

Undoubtedly the best spell for a jungler. Without this your jungling speed will be cut severly, and don't even try to jungle pre-20 without this. Though some junglers can get away without using this, i.e Warwick or Shaco, it's still not very smart to not carry it. It's essential on Shyvana.

SPACE

Flash is the best spell in the game. Normally I run Flash and Smite on shyvana, even though it may slow some of my ganks. The reason for this is because shyvana, pre-6, has no escape, and because she's such a quick jungler, she can counterjungle. But without flash, if she's caught in the jungle, she has no escape. Since flash has such versatility, I'd set it equal, if not better, than Exhaust for shyvana.

Build

Shyvana is a very versatile champion that can work well with many different items. The above build is not set in stone, and I never build it all the time. What it does do is make her very tanky and scary strong. It also synchronizes very well with her moveset to make her a real terror.

OR

To run, or not to run?.. Well, it depends on how you want your early game to go. If you want a safe jungle, Cloth Armor is the way to go. With the extra Health Potions and the armor, you'll be able to glide through your jungle with ease. But you won't be very versatile when it comes to ganks. With Boots of Speed, you'll be able to gank more before you go back for the first time, which potentially means more kills, or better counterjungling. If you're going to bring Boots of Speed, I'd stick with Flash as a summoner spell, because it gives you the quick escape if you're low on health and a wild Udyr tries to tear you in half while you're doing double golems.

You'll want to pick this up as your first item. You probably wont be able to get it on your first trip back, unless you've scored a kill or two, but on your second trip you'll most definitely want to pick this up. It's essential for Shyvana until you can replace it with a Madred's Bloodrazor or a Force of Nature later in the game.

You want to pick this up quickly after your Wriggle's Lantern, and a lot of time, with it. It builds into a Randuin's Omen later into the game, which is a phenomenal item. But what if you're not going for a randuin's? I say still get it. It provides health and a great gold boost, as most junglers need.

+or

Here come's some variety. You'll definitely want to pick up Mercury's Treads (unless they'rea heavy AD team with not a lot of CC; then you'll go for Ninja Tabi.) But after that you can either pick up a Wit's End, if you're doing good, or a Phage if you're lacking health and just can't seem to gank without losing a lot of it.

This is an important item on Shyvana because it provides a lot of health with a strong slow and a bit of attack. Really a key item that shouldn't be replaced unless you're trolling (which means your Trundle). <-- He's actually a really strong jungler by the way.

From here on out, a lot of the items are situational, but still very strong.

Randuin's Omen is a very strong item on Shyvana. Not only does it provide a lot of armor, but the health and the active AND the passive are amazing as well. I will almost always pick this item up unless they don't really have any AD. This can be replaced by an Atma's Impaler though, if you'd rather have more AD yourself.

Madred's is not always something I use. It's an excellent item nonetheless, but sometimes it's just too expensive for the game I'm in. It gives a lot of what Shyvana needs though. Attack speed, armor, damage, and an amazing passive. If you're doing well or farming well, then pick it up. With her Twin Bite she'll proc it twice and when she's in dragon form, she'll proc everyone who's hit. Makes her very dangerous.

I normally end the game with this item because it gives me a superb amount of magic resistance and movement speed. The health regeneration is also very nice. This can be switched out for an Atma's Impaler if they don't have a lot of AP.

I don't like building this item too much, but if they have a lot of AP, it definitely helps. Also, the closer Shyvana is to death, the more dangerous she becomes with it. Pretty good item, but I feel a Wit's End is better because it gives you more attacks and lets you use your Twin Bite and Dragon's Descent more often. It also helps proc your Madred's Bloodrazor a lot more, which means overall, a better item than the maw.

This is actually a dangerously strong item on Shyvana. While it doesn't provide a lot of different utility, the damage done from your Twin Bite, especially in your dragon form, will be devastating. This is directly from the wiki...

Example: With 10 enemies in a cone in front of Shyvana, at rank 5, all enemies in a cone in front of her will take 200% of her auto-attack damage from Twin Bite. In addition, Tiamat's passive will splash half of that damage (100%) to each nearby enemy. This will be triggered 10 times (once for each enemy in range), but a target won't take their own splash damage, meaning they will be hit by 9 of the Tiamat splashes each. As such, every enemy in the cone will take 200% + (100%x9) = 1100% damage from Shyvana's Twin Bite attack.

Now that's with 10 enemies (impossible I know) but still. With 5, your doing an enormous amount of damage to the entire enemy team. I'd replace this with a Wriggle's Lantern if you want more damage and to really hurt in a team fight. For instance, if you have an Orianna use her Command: Shockwave, well, lets just say the enemy team wont be in very good shape afterward.

This item is often overlooked for Shyvana but is actually extremely powerful on her. Not only does it give damage and attack speed, but it also shreds armor. Really strong item if the enemy team is stacking armor, and just a strong item overall.

Meh Items

Now this item does give you attack speed, but nothing really else. The AP is kind of wasted, considering only Flame Breath and Dragon's Descent are the only abilities affected, and they're more for utility than damage. And while the passive is nice, the second part of it, the reduction, is useless because you'll either already be in dragon form or have already used Flame Breath, therefore, only doing attack damage. It's not a bad item, but a Wit's End is much better.

While Infinity Edge is a good item, it just seems a waste on Shyvana. It only provides attack damage and critical strike and it costs far too much to only make Shyvana a bit stronger. It doesn't synchronize well with any of her abilities (just a bit with her Twin Bite). If you're going for a full AD Shyvana, then maybe, but a full AD Shyvana just isn't that strong compared to tanky DPS.

If there are any other items that seem viable on Shyvana, but don't perform that well, leave them in the comments and I'll put them in.

Early Game/Mid Game

This chapter will contain a lot of information, so if you're stressed for time, skip it. Otherwise, it's a good read with a lot of important information.

Normal Route

Go the normal route I mentioned above and when your finished, look for lanes to gank. Remember to pay constant attention because if a lane is very vulnerable, even during your jungle route, take advantage of it. Of course, if your doing red buff and top lane is pushed (blue side I'm assuming), don't make it your primary goal to gank there, but keep it in mind. If you finish your route and there are no gankable lanes, you can either go back to pick up items, or try to counter jungle. When counter jungling, make sure you have Smite ready, especially if going for a buff and only take the minion that is worth the most gold and experience. Not only does this slow your enemy jungler, but by leaving the other minions there, the minions do not respawn, hindering your enemy even more. When counter jungling, always be aware of enemy champions and their locations. If people are missing from their lanes, counter jungling becomes even more dangerous. But if you see the enemy jungler elsewhere on the map, it is normally safe to do so.

Now into specifics of how to jungle. You want to pick up Burnout at level 1 and either Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potions, or you can go the safer route and pick up Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions. If you pick up Boots of Speed, you'll be able to gank more, but you'll have much less sustain in the jungle. You're going to start at wolves at 1:40 and hopefully pick them up about 10 seconds later, being able to reach blue buff before it spawns. Do not have mid leash wolves, but rather autoattack each once or twice to help. Now, you want to have your mid leash blue buff. At this point, you can either decide to keep it for the experience and the cooldown reduction, or give it to you mid laner. Normally I keep it because it helps me blast through my jungle and gives me a lot of experience. At this point, you'll be level 2 and should pick up Twin Bite. You also should have used about 1 Health Potion. Make your way to wraiths and Burnout and use your Twin Bite directly after you autoattack. You do this because it resets your autoattack animation making your route much faster. Almost like Trundle's Rabid Bite.

After wraiths move along to double golems and do the same thing. You should reach level 3 here and put a point into Flame Breath. While it's not a great skill, you want the utility and the extra damage (being able to use all three abilities is better than two stronger onces with cooldowns). Do red buff, using Health Potions when you need to and then go back to wraiths. At this point, like I said above, either gank or go back for items. You're going to pick up either Boots of Speed or start on your Wriggle's Lantern. If you grab a Vampiric Scepter your going to have more sustain but duels and ganks will be more dangerous. If you pick up Madred's Razors your going to have a faster jungle route because you'll be able to proc the extra damage with your Twin Bite and fast autoattacks.

You should continue to jungle and gank accordingly and once you get your Wriggle's Lantern, your going to want drop wards whenever you can. You should also be buying at least one ward whenever you go back because awareness is what wins games. If you can catch your enemies out of position, it normally means a free kill. After Wriggle's Lantern, a Heart of Gold is next. By this point, you'll have a decent amount of everything and if you have a few kills, you'll be a lot stronger than the enemy jungler. Counterjungle when you can, and look for opportunities to gank. You're going to want to upgrade to Mercury's Treads soon and once you get your Wit's End or Phage, you'll be hitting mid game. Dragon contention will be strong (no, not against you, unless you're giving it the enemy team in the butt) and you'll want to ward and look to start a team fight. With you're ultimate Dragon's Descent you'll be able to do a lot of damage and take some too, but DO NOT get overconfident. You are not invincible in dragon mode and if you're focused, you will go down. But otherwise, you can start giving it to everyone... In their butts.

Warding

Early Game Tactics

Now here's something important: how you want to start your game. You can either do your normal route with your allies watching your jungle for invasion or, do some invading yourself. If you're going to invade, find out where the enemy jungle starts. For instance if you're going against an Amumu, he will most definitely start at blue buff, and taking this will severely cripple his jungling as he is dependent on it. You'll want to make your way there with your entire team and slowly move to the blue buff bush. It spawns at 1:55. If they aren't watching for an invasion, it should be an easy and free blue buff for you, and possibly a kill. If they do decide to fight, use the bush for the first hit advantage. Normally anyone who enters a bush with five enemies in it will get melted instantly, especially early game so you'll be able to win a fight. Afterward you're going to want to rush back to your blue buff to make sure they didn't take it and give that to your mid if you didn't give the enemies to them already. Continue with your normal route if everything goes well.

If getting invaded...

You'll want to figure out how many there are and where they're coming from. Normally you won't have a full team defending, so if their entire team is there, you'll probably have to give it up. But if they come one by one... well, three of you can drive them back. Ever watch the movie 300? They fought in a narrow passage, one by one. If they're not smart about it, they'll do this, and you might get a few kills out of it. Otherwise, go take their blue buff and continue.

Late Game/Team Fights

This is where Shyvana excels. In her dragon form, all of her abilities become area of effect ones, and it just darn scares the enemy when there's a dragon in the middle of a fight. While team fights might not seem that hard (whacking the squishies), starting one is different. Your ultimate might seem like a good initiation, and sometimes it is, but it's not always the best one. If you're the sole tank on the team and you have no real CC, sometimes jumping in is the best decision, but you might want to try to get an enemy to overextend first.

During the Team Fight

During the team fight, you're going to want to hunt down the AD Carry. Jump on them and either kill them or drive them out of the fight. Even if you don't manage to kill them, getting them out of the fight will make it easier for you team and AD Carry to kill the enemy team. If you do manage to kill them or drive them away and the fight is still going on, jump in and continue using your abilities. While it's hard to do, try to use your Twin Bite after every autoattack to reset the animation and do more DPS.

Your going to be constantly warding, especially dragon and baron and looking to pick people off that have strayed too far away from their teammates. One kill here can lead to a free baron, because 4 enemies, unless they're super fed, aren't strong enough to contest baron. Likewise, you're going to want to make sure nobody strays to far away, because one death can lead to a lost baron and the game. It's very important to get a good initiation on the enemy team and do as much damage to their carry as possible before switching to another target. If you're doing baron and the enemy engage, immediately shift focus to them. If they're doing baron and you have it warded, a great way to initiate is have your teammates ready in a bush while you use Dragon's Descent over a wall, and possibly steal baron with Smite. Otherwise, it's all team fights and such from here on out.

Dragon's Descent and You

Shyvana's ultimate, Dragon's Descent is very unique. It actually turns her into a dragon. But it doesn't just transform you right away, you gotta fly first. They're are some specifics about how to use it, but the utility and versatility it has is endless.

Keep in mind there is a slight hesitation from when you press r to when you actually take off and that whoever you hit is pushed the length that you aimed. It's not a very hard ultimate to use, but the wrong placement of it can actually push an enemy away from your allies, or sometimes, towards your weak ones. When ganking and going for the kill, you can always initiate with your ult, but be prepared for a quick Flash, because people get frightened. Seriously. Frightened. But either have your laner stun them or approach in your normal form, waiting for them to attempt to escape before ulting them. When 1v1ing someone, don't wait until your low to ult. You might want to start the fight in your normal form, but quickly switch to dragon form if going for the kill.

Because it can have such a short cooldown (based on your autoattacks), you can use it to escape, to initiate, to steal dragon or baron, to cut someone off, to ambush a group of enemies, to start a team fight, or to just check yourself out in dragon form. Seriously. You should try it. The versatility of it is amazing and you're one hell of a tank while in it.

General Thoughts

Shyvana is a great champion to play and while she can work well on any team, it's much better if you have laners with at least one form of CC. Because Shyvana doesn't have any herself, it makes her ganks easier to escape from, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Be aware, cautious, smart and witty when playing her and take advantage of her jungling speed to counterjungle. You can really be everywhere at once, and when bottom gets ganked by you after having just seen you in top, well, its called hacks.
Below I have a few videos of some Shyvana games by some very good people, so take a look. I also have included a basic jungling guide from who I think is one of the best junglers in this game. Shyvana's fun if you're new or a vetaran to league of legends and I wish you the best of luck when playing her (unless you're against me of course. Then I want you to lose).

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!